Visiting a local institution

I can't believe I've lived in Birmingham -- more specifically, Hoover -- for 20 years, and only a couple of weeks ago finally visited an iconic Hoover location for the first time.

Of course, would YOU be beating down the door of a pharmacy that looks like that in order to try its famous milkshakes?

That's exactly what we did. Green Valley Drugs has an old-fashioned soda fountain inside, and they make milkshakes fresh to order there.

We ordered two chocolate and two vanilla shakes. They were so cold they made our mouths pucker up.

But right after the puckers came big grins.

The shakes were so thick, we couldn't drink them with straws ... we had to eat them with spoons.

This is the look Amelia gave us while she was begging for a taste of a shake. She was pitiful.

This is the look she got when the freezing-cold shake hit her tongue.

And this is the look she gave us when she was begging for more. That's not a face that says she's unhappy with the shake itself. That's a face that says we're being FAR TOO SLOW in providing the next bite.

While I wouldn't go so far as to say that the milkshakes were life-changing, it was a fun adventure for a Saturday afternoon. That drugstore with its faux wood paneling and entire wall of unloaded hunting rifles might be the most authentically "Alabama" business our boys have ever patronized.

And there wasn't a single drop left in anyone's cup. Not a one.